Natural gas is in demand in several industrial applications such as petrochemicals, fertilizers and power plants. Natural gas can be stored in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) and is transported primarily through pipelines. Pipeline transportation of natural gas can have a substantially large gestation period and is cost intensive. Moreover, pipeline transportation is not energy efficient for transportation and distribution of large volumes of natural gas.
Natural gas can be converted to gas hydrates slurries that can then be used for storage and transportation. However, the natural gas hydrates are stable only at high pressures and low temperatures. Hence, their use for transportation and storage is limited.